The breakdown of law and order in Cologne,
Germany on New Year’s Eve lead to widespread sexual assaults and robbery by
roving mobs of Islamic immigrant men. Police
were unable to stop the crime spree. If
this kind of breakdown becomes common, people will resort to rougher methods of
self-defense. When law and order break
down, people take the law into their own hands because they have no other
choice. This is called vigilantism. Liberals give the word a pejorative
connotation and then dismiss the possibility that anyone would even consider
it.
The pejorative nature of
"vigilantism" depends on how much history you know and where you grew
up. In the gold fields of Montana in the 1860's, vigilante justice was the only
kind available. The Civil War was raging back east, so nobody had time to send the agents of law and order to the gold fields. In the fall of 1863, a band of outlaws killed about 100 miners.
The leader of the outlaws was Sheriff Henry Plummer of Bannack, Montana. In
January and February of 1864, the Vigilance Committee of Alder Gulch captured,
tried and hanged about 25 members of the gang, including Plummer.
The numbers 3-7-77 have long been associated with Montana
vigilantes. These numbers are on Montana State Police patches. When I lived
there, they were also painted on the bottom of every Montana State Police car's
front doors.